This year, CSEF winners were chosen from among 251 projects represented by 279 finalists from 113 schools and 13 regions within the state. More than 130 professional scientists, engineers and mathematicians interviewed the students and evaluated their projects before selecting the Grand Award winners. In addition, over 60 businesses, professional societies, and government agencies provided more than 150 of their own representatives to judge exhibits based on their own criteria. They judged the student finalists and conferred Special Awards which represented an aspect of the bestowing organization. These included college scholarships, offers of summer employment, field trips, cash, and savings bonds. Over 1,000 people attended the Awards Ceremony this year.

Scholarships from Adams State University, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Colorado State University, Pueblo, and University of Colorado, Boulder were also presented. Adams State University awarded fourteen one-year full resident tuition and fees scholarships. The Colorado School of Mines awarded eight $1,000 renewable tuition scholarships. Colorado State University awarded eight $1,000 renewable tuition scholarships to each of the 1st place senior division category winners who were eligible. The College of Natural Sciences at CSU also awarded four $1,000 tuition scholarships to each of the Senior Division CSEF Best Project award winners. Colorado State University, Pueblo awarded one $1,000 tuition scholarship. The University of Colorado, Boulder awarded three $500 renewable scholarships and five $1,000 renewable scholarships. The Colorado Science and Engineering Fair also awarded a $2,000 scholarship to a twelfth grader in the name of Ryan Patterson (Intel ISEF top winner in 2001) for use at the college or university of their choice.

This year, the CSEF was honored to have Dr. Walt Meier, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Flight Center as the guest speaker.

New Visions of the Earth:
A Revolution in How Humans View Their World

For most of human history, people could only view the world through their own eyes. The advent of satellite remote sensing in the past half century has provided new views of the world. Even in the past decade, new techniques have yielded unprecedented information about the Earth. Beyond stunning imagery, satellite data have been crucial for tracking changes in climate and the data are greatly enhancing scientists’ understanding of the Earth’s climate system. Dr. Meier’s talk will present imagery from NASA and other satellites to demonstrate how these data are improving our understanding of climate change and variability; this is particularly true in the polar regions where satellite resources are essential for monitoring the rapidly changing climate. At the end of the presentation, some thoughts will be given on how such information can best inform society on how to respond to the Earth’s changing environment.

Dr. Walt Meier is a research scientist in the Cryospheric Sciences Lab at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. His research focuses on remote sensing of sea ice, the earth’s frozen oceans. He uses a variety of data and imagery to analyze changes in sea ice and the implications of those changes for Arctic and global climate. Before joining NASA in August 2013, Walt was a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. Previously, he was an adjunct assistant professor at the U.S. Naval Academy from 2001 to 2003 and a visiting scientist at the U.S. National Ice Center in Washington, DC from 1999 to 2001. He received a B.S. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

2014 COLORADO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR TOP AWARDS

The top four Senior Division project exhibitors (individual or team) win a trip to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Los Angeles, CA May 11 - 16, 2014. First place went to Logan Collins, Fairview High School in Boulder, grade 11, for the project The Conjugative Plasmid RK2 as a Delivery System for Artifical AnatheriaH Genes: A Novel Synthetic Biology Alternative to Traditional Antibiotics. Second place went to Nurul MohdReza, Union Colony Preparatory School in Greeley, grade 12, for the project Year II: Domestic Wastewater Clarification and Power Generation - Increasing the Conductivity of Permeated Electrodes in a Single-Celled Microbial Fuel Cell. Third place went to Matthew Hileman, The Classical Academy in Colorado Springs, grade 10, for the project Cube Satellites: Miniature Satellite Design and Operations for Pulsed Plasma System Applications. Fourth place went to Lawrence Zhang, Fairview High School in Boulder, grade 12, for the project Suppression of Malonyl-CoA:ACP Transacylase as a Treatment for Squamous Cell Carcinomas.

The winners of the Senior Division Student Choice Award were Sarena Wells, grade 11, and Aubrey Wells, 9th grade, Fort Morgan High School in Fort Morgan, for the project Learning with Style: Analysis and Testing of Learning Styles with Preschool Children. The Junior Division Student Choice winners were Kaybree Keating, grade 7 and Kaitlin Wells, grade 8, Fort Morgan Middle School in Fort Morgan, for the project From Trash to Gas: Biofuel.

The winner of the Poster Art Contest was Tayler Rocha, Monte Vista High School in Monte Vista.

The winners of the Pioneers of Science Awards were:Haleigh Prosser, Wiley Jr/Sr High School in Wiley, grade 8, for the project "C" the Difference: Effect of Vitamin C in Cattle Fed Wet Distillers' Grains Rations;Chloe Bleak, Insight School of Colorado in Westminster, grade 8, for the project Effect of Wheat Residue Mass & Simulated Precipitation Amount & Frequency on Soil Water Evaporation;Alyssah Ewing, Genoa-Hugo School in Hugo, grade 7 for the project Toothpaste Now vs. Then;Kari Mosier, Lamar Middle School in Lamar, grade 6, for the project Measuring M&M's;Dimery Plewe, Tessa Porter and Alexander Vestal, Cortez Middle School in C0rtez, grade 6, for the project "Windmill" in Persian;Sonoma Carlos, Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences in Denver, grade 6, for the project The Effects of Natural and Potentially Antibacterial Agents on Streptococcus Pneumoniae in Petri Dishes and in Ovo;Maya Duran and Sayer Guerrero, Pueblo School for Arts and Sciences in Pueblo, grade 8, for the project Outie or Innie?;Grace Gulig, Monument Academy in Monument, grade 6, for the project Protecting Poinsettias;Claire Shepherd, Crest Academy in Salida, grade 7, for the project Do Memory Games Affect Kids Memories?;Elias Demosthenes, Stanley British Primary School in Denver, grade 8, for the project Mission Ignition;Bryce Kellum, Windsor Charter Academy in Windsor, grade 8, for the project Can Pigs Fly?;Heather Graham, Genoa-Hugo School in Hugo, grade 8, for the project The Heat Is On;Remigio Lucero, Centauri Middle School in La Jara, grade 6, for the project How Needle Cast Affects Snow Melt Rates;Amber Medina, Corwin International Magnet School in Pueblo, grade 7, for the project Measuring the Ozone;Shaleese Romero and Connor Farnworth, Pueblo School for Arts and Sciences in Pueblo, grade 8, for the project Genre Genius; and
Nathan Johns, The Classical Academy in Colorado Springs, grade 7, for the project To Infinity & Beyond!.

The winner of the CSEF Teacher of the Year Award was Loree' Harvey of Monte Vista Middle School in Monte Vista. Ms. Harvey received a $3,000 grant to use towards scientific research in her classroom and school. Ms. Harvey also received an Inventor's Kit from SparkFun Electronics.

The other nominees for the Teacher of the Year Award also received an Inventor's Kit from SparkFun Electronics. The nominees included Angela Golding from Edison High School in Yoder and Kevin Gonzales from Turner Middle School in Berthoud.

The 1st and 2nd place Junior Division category winners were nominated for the Broadcom MASTERS middle school competition. This year, 6 Colorado students were named as Semi-Finalists and Liam Young was chosen as a Finalist to attend the Broadcom MASTERS competition in Washington DC in October.